THE 2,238 prime and cast sheep on offer at Skipton Auction Mart’s latest weekly Monday sale was almost double that in numbers on the previous week, with a large turnout of 1,803 Spring lambs and trade variable depending on quality, producing an anticipated reduced overall selling average of £105.49 per head, or 252.1p/kg.

Heavy lambs got away well, as did three-quarters bred Continental lambs and premium types. A nice skinned Texel-x could command a fair trade, though commercial first-cross handyweight lambs struggled in comparison to recent weeks.

In fact, trade in some classes was nearer to what is usually expected for the time of year, rather than the heady across the board prices seen of late.

Top per kilo prices of 352.4p, or £148 per head, were seen for two pens of 42kg Beltex-x lambs from returning South Yorkshire vendors, Doncaster’s Tom Hill and Ruby Wright, going to regular wholesale buyers Hartshead Meats in Mossley and Vivers Scotlamb, of Annan.

In total 47 pens of lambs achieved £3 per kilo or more.

Heading the gross prices at £160 each were Texel-x lambs consigned by Alistair Sutcliffe, from Carlton in Cleveland in North Yorkshire’s Hambleton district and these too made their way to Hartshead Meats.

JA Gibson & Son once more travelled across from Church Fenton, Tadcaster, to claim £155 per head with another Texel pen, as did the Hill & Wright partnership again, this time with a Texel pen.

Seven pens in total achieved £150-plus.

A further reduced late season turnout of 56 prime hoggs averaged £xx.xx per head, or 197.10p/kg, with K&C Hird, of Colne, heading both the gross and by-weight prices at £126, or 250p/kg, with Texels.

Individual Spring lamb breed averages and leading prices were:

Beltex average £110.24 or 275.4p/kg - per head £148 Hill & Wright; £145 £134 £131 £127 TA Robinson; £145 £137.50 £132 P Crabtree; £129 A&SJ Sugden; p/kg: 352.4p 317.9p Hill & Wright; 338.5p 337.2p 335.4p 300.0p P Crabtree; 325.7p J&J Hemingway; 322.2p TA Robinson.

Texel average £105.93 or 255.6p/kg - per head £160 AR Sutcliffe; £155 JA Gibson; £155 £150 Hill & Wright, £152 R&E Pollard; £150 A&SJ Sugden; £150 EP&JM Hutchinson; p/kg: 352.4p 350.0p 348.8p Hill & Wright; 345.0p M Crabtree; 344.7p 328.8p Toothill Bros; 339.5p G&G Thronton; 334.3p KJ Marston;

Suffolk average £100.15 or 240.4p/kg - per head £145 £142 £136 TH Mellin; £140 B Spensley; £138 £134 ML Evans; £138 C Blackburn; £137 L Mellin; p/kg: 308.5p 302.2p 295.8p TH Mellin; 279.2p 268.8p ML Evans; 272.3p D&GM Scott; 269.2p B Spensley; 265.4p C Blackburn.

Charolais average £88.64 or 227.8p/kg - per head £96 Charnleys; £89 JR&DL Ogden; £84 J Taylor; p/kg: 240.0p Charnleys; 233.3p J Taylor; 222.5p JR&DL Ogden.

Blue du Maine average £102.51 or 261.4p/kg - per head £122 £113 £100 £99 TP&EA Clayton;

p/kg: 263.2p 262.8p 259.6p 253.8p TP&EA Clayton.

Mule average £89 or 217.3p/kg - per head £93 S Breare; £85 ML&JE Kayley; p/kg: 226.8p S Breare; 207.3p ML&JE Kayley;

Hampshire average £89.47 or 234.5p/kg - per head £91 £90 New York Farms; £90.50 A&EM Ashby; p/kg: 248.6p 239.5p 236.8p New York Farms.

The ovine line-up was completed by 379 cast sheep, the majority again cull ewes.

They got away well when trading similarly on the week and achieving another strong overall selling average a shade over £100 per head.

A shortage of heavy ewes saw those with style and strength make £145-£166.50, other heavies selling at £125-£140 and meated mediums at £108-£120. A total of 150 white-faced entries in the mix averaged £115.

JG Hall & Sons, of Gargrave, stepped up with the top price £166.50 single Texel ewe, while North of England Mules were again in ready demand, big ewes with meat making £105-£121.50, with the heaviest consigned by Carleton’s John Smith.

Medium Mules sold from £85-£95, with some lean types making £70-£85.

Of the other breeds, Bluefaced Leicester topped at £137.50 from J Verity & Sons, of Middlessmorr, while Swaledale ewes sold to £94.50 for big full meat types, with others around £70-£80.

Lean ewes made £55-£60 and plain sorts £25-£48, depending on quality.

Cast rams averaged £119.63, with a top of £149.50 for a Bluefaced Leicester from Fair Place Farm in Cowling.